BELFAST - In the 1800s, industry in Belfast was booming. Among shipbuilding and the production of rope and tobacco, the city paved the way in the worlds linen industry. By the end of the 19th Century Belfast was known as the worlds linen capital and was nicknamed Linenopolis.
Belfast was the birthplace of the RMS Titanic, the world most famous ship which, when it was constructed in the early 1900s, was longer than the height of the worlds tallest building at 882 feet and six inches in length. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen.
Housed in a listed Victorian linen building, Linen Hall Library has an incredible 232 years of history. Founded in 1788, its the oldest library in Belfast and famous for its Irish and genealogy collections. The librarys oldest book is De Anima (1490) written by the Eastern physician, Avicenna, about health and well being. It also has a first edition copy of James Joyces Ulysses in its collection, and the first printing of the American Declaration of Independence outside of America.
source of pride for the people of Belfast – and its not hard to see why. Beautiful stained glass windows adorn the Hall, depicting Celtic myths and legends, such as the Cattle Raid of Cooley, as well victims of the Great Famine and those who fought in the First and Second World Wars.
The grounds feature a number of memorials including the Titanic Memorial Garden to the east, where bronze plaques are inscribed with the names of the 1,512 people who perished onboard the ship of dreams.
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